Nobody worth his salt in the sport of racing needs an introduction to Pat Shaw – he’s as much a totem of the game in South Africa as Vincent O’ Brien was to Ireland and Bob Baffert to America. You don’t reach those heights as a racehorse trainer without a gifted eye, an abiding intuition and dare we say it, a smattering of courage and “chutzpah”. While some of those legends might’ve chosen to be excluded from the latter category, there’s no escaping it for Mr Shaw.

The untimely death of stallion Await The Dawn in 2014 was a massive blow for Summerhill Stud. He was arguably the one who could’ve kept the Mooi River establishment at or near the top of the logs for the next two decades. Thankfully all of us can enjoy the pleasure of seeing his offspring on the track. Even if only for a few years.

Looking at the slots for the R2.5million Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup and the R1million Emperors Palace Charity Mile on Saturday, you’d swear we were being punished for having a hand in “state capture”!